


A Kept Christmas

by TazzyJan



Series: The Kept Series [4]
Category: The Musketeers (2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, BDSM, M/M, Punishment, Spanking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-21
Updated: 2018-04-21
Packaged: 2019-04-26 01:16:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14391111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TazzyJan/pseuds/TazzyJan
Summary: Athos comes home from the office and gets an unpleasant surprise.





	A Kept Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Snow_Glory](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snow_Glory/gifts).



Athos couldn’t wait to get home. The day had been a long and tiring one with what felt to him like an endless stream of details to be ironed out, each more petty than the last. To make it even more unbearable, Aramis had stayed behind at the loft. He had only meant to run in for a couple of hours, after all. There had been no need for both of them to go in. Yet every time he had started to wrap things up something else had cropped up. It was like those demented elves in that ridiculous movie they had watched last night. As soon as you cut the head off one of the little fuckers, three more came shambling out of the woodwork.

Athos had no more than closed the door behind him and hung up his jacket before a loud crash came from the kitchen. He froze for a moment then rushed toward the sound. He had only made it part way across the room before the sound of Aramis swearing a blue streak made him pause. Apparently he wasn’t the only one having a bad day. 

Deciding to give Aramis a moment to calm, he waited, listening. His boy sounded beyond stressed. Aramis had been fine when he left which left Athos wondering what could have happened in the time he was gone. One of the reasons Aramis hadn’t accompanied him to the office was because of how stressed he had been lately. Now, Athos wished he would have. At least if Aramis had been with him he would have been able to see his growing distress and done something about it. 

As he listened, he could hear Aramis continue to rant and curse as he slammed things onto the kitchen counter. Athos winced at one particularly loud bang wondering if he might have left a dent. Realizing that Aramis was not going to calm on his own, Athos pushed the swinging door open and stood watching, waiting to see how long it took his normally observant lover to notice him.

The longer it took Aramis to notice him the deeper Athos’ frown became. From what Athos could tell, Aramis was deep in the throes of cookie making, not an activity he would have associated with this degree of… anger. For Aramis was angry, almost violently so if his actions toward their bakeware were any indication. 

“Do you intend to murder that cookie sheet or are you just torturing it?” Athos asked when it became clear that Aramis would not notice him if he was wrapped in blinking Christmas lights.

The sound of Athos’ voice cutting through the angry diatribe in his head was such a surprise that Aramis yelped and spun around, the wooden spoon in his hand slipping from his grip and flying across the kitchen to smack against the far wall where the previous pan of burnt cookies had been flung.

“Athos! What are you doing here?” Aramis gasped, his heart thundering in his chest.

“I live here,” Athos said drolly. “I would ask what you are doing here but I’m not sure if I want the answer. So again, are you intent on murdering the cookie sheet or just doing grievous bodily harm to it?”

“Neither,” Aramis snarled, blushing darkly as he stomped across the kitchen to retrieve his errant spoon. He slammed it down in the sink then braced his hands along the edge of it, panting angrily.

“I would watch my tone, boy,” Athos warned. Under normal circumstances such insolence on Aramis’ part would have already earned him a physical rebuke. This, however, was anything but normal and Athos knew his boy was tottering on the brink. As it was, Aramis’ behavior was so out of the ordinary that he wasn’t quite sure what it was he needed. Did he need Athos to be a harsh taskmaster or did he need a gentler, more understanding hand right now?

Aramis’ head jerked up and his eyes flashed dangerously. “Oh, what’s wrong?” he snapped. “Not enough sycophants licking your boots today?”

Athos was across the room in two angry strides. He grabbed Aramis by the hair and jerked his head back so hard his neck cracked. He saw those dark eyes flash again and bit down on the side of his neck turning whatever he was about to say into a strangled shout. He felt Aramis’ hands come up and grab his arms for a brief moment then they dropped back down as he fought not to struggle in Athos’ punishing grip. 

“How dare you disrespect me in my own home,” Athos hissed after finally releasing his neck. He felt Aramis stiffen at his words and frowned but pressed on, keeping his head pulled back at a painful angle. 

“I’m sorry, Sir,” Aramis whispered, his voice catching. 

“You’re going to be,” Athos said ominously. He turned back toward the living room, still keeping a tight grip on Aramis. He heard him hiss in pain but he ignored it as he drug him toward the other room. There, he slung him onto the sofa and stepped back. 

“I don’t know what the hell your problem is and at the moment I don’t care,” Athos told him, hardening his heart when Aramis flinched again. Something was definitely bothering his boy. They were going to need to get to the bottom of that but they needed to get Aramis settled before they could do that. 

“I…”

“Shut it,” Athos barked, pleased when Aramis snapped his mouth closed at once. “Strip out of those clothes and take the garland off the tree. You have five minutes.” With that, Athos turned and headed into their bedroom. He’d purchased a couple of new toys he’d planned to surprise Aramis with. Now was as good a time as any he supposed.

Athos waited the full five minutes before going back into the living room. Sometimes it made Aramis squirm for Athos to watch him, impatiently tapping his foot. Other times, it only made him tense up even more. Athos was afraid this might be one of the latter times so stayed in the bedroom. The entire purpose of this was to calm Aramis down. Riling him up even more would not help in that regard. 

Coming back out, he found Aramis on his knees, his hands held behind his back, the Christmas tree garland coiled in front of him. That, at least, was a good sign. Athos hadn’t wanted to have to subdue him physically again, not this soon. He had no doubt that he would before the night was out but he needed Aramis to be at least partially in control for him to feel that he was truly able to give his consent. 

“Push the coffee table out of the way,” Athos instructed as he tossed the items he had brought with him from the bedroom onto the sofa. He sat down and watched as Aramis did as he was told. Once the table was out of the way, Athos picked up the garland and pointed to a spot between his spread feet.

Aramis kept his eyes on the floor as he shuffled over to kneel between Athos’ legs. He was still upset, the anger coming in waves, but he was embarrassed, too. He knew Athos was upset with him and that was the worst of all, making his stomach churn even as it made his temper flare.

Once Aramis was between his legs, Athos spun him around roughly. He drew his hands behind his back and quickly began using the garland to bind them. He heard Aramis gasp and saw the telltale hint of a blush begin to spread down his face and neck. That was good. His humiliation would go a long way toward getting him settled just as it always did. 

“Break this garland and I’ll be taking it out on your hide,” Athos warned. He knew the flimsy red and green garland would never hold Aramis, not if he wanted to be free. He would actually have to concentrate on not breaking it, something else that would help to diffuse his uncharacteristic anger. 

Once his arms were immobilized, Athos grabbed the floor gag from the items he had thrown onto the sofa. He shoved the thick ball into place then buckled it around his boy’s head. Using Aramis’ hair as a leash, he drug him the short distance over to the clip that normally sat under the coffee table and shoved his face down. A quick clip and Aramis’ head was now tethered to the floor. With his arms held behind his back, it left his ass thrust up nicely. All Athos’ for the taking. 

Athos decided to give his boy a minute and went to the bar to fix himself a drink. He recalled another time his boy had been bound and his for the taking. That time, however, he had been giving Aramis a very special reward. A reward that left him black and blue and covered in welts for days. 

His drink in hand, he carried it back over to the sofa and carefully balanced it on Aramis’ upturned ass. “Spill my drink, boy, and you won’t be able to sit for a week,” he warned, the threat clear. He saw Aramis go completely still and smiled. His boy hadn’t seen him but he had used the glasses with the deeply inset bases. Unless he really started moving around, it wouldn’t fall off. Aramis, however, didn’t need to know that. 

As Athos slowly sipped his drink, he saw some of the tension start to bleed away from his boy. Not all of it, not by far, but it was a start. Finally, he set the glass on the end table and slid to his knees beside his boy. He ran his hands over Aramis’ ass, enjoying the feel of it. He could feel the coldness from where his glass had rested and leaned down to nuzzle his face against him there. He chuckled at the muffled yelp his actions produced before going back to enjoying his boy once more.

Aramis couldn’t hold back a yelp when Athos began to rub his beard against his ass where the glass had been resting. He barely remembered to check himself to keep from snapping the garland binding his arms behind his back. He had felt himself starting to calm, albeit slowly, until Athos had started touching him. Now he was anything but calm. He wanted to writhe. He wanted to cry out. He wanted to break that stupid garland that held his arms prisoner. He wanted… he wanted to be fucked. 

Anything. 

Anything to make the roil inside of him stop.

But he couldn’t. He couldn’t writhe, the floor gag held him down. He couldn’t cry out, that same floor gag muffled him, making him choke on his words. He knew better than to break the garland for Athos would be livid with him if he did. He could do nothing but kneel there, chained to the floor like a dog, like less than a dog, and take whatever pittance Athos, _Sir_ , bestowed upon him.

Athos felt Aramis start tensing up again and was confused. For whatever reason, Aramis was not reacting well to even the slightest show of compassion right now. Very well. If his boy needed a strong hand, Athos could do that. Sitting up, he thought about going and getting one of the crops but didn’t feel right leaving Aramis alone for even that short amount of time. No, tonight his hand would have to do. 

“You made quite a mess of my kitchen, boy,” Athos said, putting as much bite as he could into his words. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

Aramis hesitated for a moment, thinking Athos meant to take the gag from his mouth so he could answer him. When it became apparent that he did not, he began trying to talk around it, knowing that failing to answer would be even worse.

“Nothing to say?” Athos mocked. “Very well then. Let’s see how long your stubbornness lasts.” 

Athos gave him no more warning than that before he drew back his arm and brought his hand down hard and fast on his upturned ass. The sound of flesh meeting flesh was loud in the otherwise quiet room, seeming to almost echo off the walls. Athos didn’t hesitate, landing the second blow right on the heels of the first. 

Aramis heard the sound of the blow before he felt it. It was just enough time for him to brace himself the smallest bit and not tear through the flimsy garland binding his wrists together. Instead, he screamed into the gag, the sound of his cry echoing off the floor the same way the sound of Athos’ palm hitting his ass echoed off the walls. 

“Are you sorry yet?” Athos mocked as he continued to rain down blows. He heard Aramis scream what sounded like a ‘yes’ into the gag but he ignored it. His boy wasn’t anywhere near ready yet. Not by a long shot. 

Athos continued to spank him until his hand turned numb and Aramis’ cries turned into feeble mewling things that sounded closer to sobs than screams. When he stopped, his boy’s ass was a deep, dark crimson. It was already starting to purple in places and he couldn’t resist squeezing it. The high-pitched, strangled sound that came from Aramis as he weakly tried to move away was exactly what Athos wanted to hear and he kept it up for long minutes until his boy all but collapsed shaking under his hands, no longer even trying to move away from the abuse.

Athos knew he could end the scene here, stop now and his boy would probably be alright. Aramis’ anger, wherever it had come from, had been thoroughly spent. That wasn’t what he wanted, though. He didn’t simply want to diffuse his lover’s anger, he wanted to subjugate him once more, to break him down until he was coiled around his feet, mewling in a combination of pain and ecstasy. 

Keeping one hand on Aramis’ flank, Athos reached back onto the sofa and grabbed the remaining items he had brought from the bedroom. He set the candy cane shaped vibrator down beside him and opened up the peppermint flavored lube. The advertisement had described it as pleasantly refreshing. One reviewer had warned it could be quite intense if used on more sensitive areas. It was this last that Athos was hoping for. 

Pouring some of the lube onto his fingers, he warmed it a bit then pressed them against Aramis’ hole. He felt his lover start at the unexpected touch but didn’t try to gentle him, remembering his earlier reaction. Instead, he pressed both of his fingers inside of him, drawing a long low moan from Aramis as his body was breeched. 

Athos watched as Aramis’ hands flexed in his bonds as he continued to finger him. He could feel his body starting to relax then Aramis moaned again and began to squirm. Athos knew then that the ‘refreshing’ qualities of the peppermint lube had kicked in and grinned. He had a feeling that Aramis was going to be quite desperate by the time Athos finally took pity on him. After a bit longer, he pulled his fingers free. He took a moment to knead his boy’s red and painful backside again before picking up the vibrator. He coated it with a generous portion of the lube and pressed it against Aramis’ slick hole. 

Aramis had moaned when Athos slid his fingers into him, forcing his body to yield. He had started relaxing into it when his hole began to tingle. In no time, he found himself squirming in his bounds, unable to keep still as whatever Athos had used burned within him. Aramis whimpered into the gag when Athos finally slid his fingers free. That only made the horrible burning sensation worse as if the absence of any other stimuli gave his body nothing to distract itself with. A second later, he felt Athos’ hands grip his bruised backside again and was grateful for the respite. Even the pain was better than the burning. All too soon, however, Athos released him and Aramis felt the burning began almost at once. It was so bad, in fact, that he didn’t even notice the pressure against his hole until Athos was pressing something inside of him. Grateful for the reprieve, he held still, letting his lover do as he would without complaint. 

Athos slid the vibrator all the way inside of Aramis, fucking it in and out of the man for long minutes while his lover moaned and shook. He hoped Aramis didn’t end up snapping the garland when he turned it on. He didn’t really want to punish him for that, but he would if he had to. His boy wasn’t quite where he needed him to be yet. He was close, though. It wouldn’t take much more at all to break Aramis down completely. 

Pushing the vibrator in deep, Athos turned it on. He started it on low knowing how strongly Aramis reacted to them. This time was no different. Aramis screamed into the gag and went taut all over, his entire body clenching down. He saw his hands ball into fists as his arms stiffened. The garland binding him tightened dangerously but he managed not to snap it yet. 

Athos held the vibrator in place for a few seconds longer then began to lazily fuck it in and out of Aramis’ ass. His boy was trying to move away from it but there was nowhere for him to go, not with his arms bound behind his back and his head tethered to the floor. Aramis always reacted somewhat extremely to vibrators. The added effect of the lube could only be making it worse for him. His boy was on the brink of breaking. One more push was all it would take. 

He really hadn’t wanted to do it this way but Aramis needed the release. Athos knew of no surer way of breaking his boy down than to simply break him. Besides, even though he was gagged, Aramis was not unable to call a halt to things if he truly needed to. As angry as he was, he still hadn’t signaled Athos to stop. That more than anything decided things for Athos and he shoved the vibrator in deep before turning it up to high.

Aramis felt the shock travel through him like a punch. He screamed into the gag so hard his face turned red. Without thinking, he jerked against his bonds, snapping the feeble garland as if it was nothing as his body tried to twist away from the unexpected onslaught. 

“No!” Athos shouted as he grabbed onto Aramis’ hip, forcing him to stay where he was. He was relieved when Aramis only slammed his hands down on either side of his head, making no other move. He continued to fuck the vibrator into him hard and fast, making him take it as he moaned and shook. 

Aramis felt like he was shaking apart as Athos continued to torment him. He pushed feebly against the floor but the gag held him firmly in place. His body was on fire thanks to whatever Athos had used on him and the vibrator was like a live wire fucking into him. He felt hot tears sting his eyes and squeezed them shut, trying not to let them fall. He knew it was useless, that Athos would fuck the tears from him as surely has he had everything else but he tried nevertheless. 

Athos kept up his torment for a bit longer before roughly jerking the vibrator out and dropping it down beside Aramis’ leg. Aramis was shaking hard. He was pushing against the floor, as if fighting the gag. Athos wasn’t sure if he was even aware he was going it. Glancing about the room, he looked for anything he could use that would not require him to leave the room. He really didn’t want to leave Aramis alone right now, even for that brief of a time. Not finding anything else, Athos settled on his belt. He didn’t like it, it was thinner than he preferred for something like this, but it was better than the alternative. 

“You broke my garland, boy,” he snarled as menacingly as he could as he slid his belt from his pants. 

Aramis heard Athos’ words and tried to shake his head. He hadn’t meant to do that, he truly hadn’t. He tried to speak, to tell Athos as much, but the gag prevented him. Turning his head to the side, he tried to see what Athos was doing but he was just out of his line of sight.

“What do you have to say for yourself, boy?” Athos snapped as he moved back behind Aramis a bit more. “Nothing? Fine.” 

Aramis had just enough time to tense before Athos laid the first stripe down. The sound of the belt cutting through the air was all the warning he had before a line of fire blazed across his backside. He could feel a welt rising on his already reddened and bruised skin. He knew the belt hadn’t broken the skin, could feel no telltale wetness running down his thighs, but it felt like he had been sliced open just the same.

Athos kept the blows coming in a stead stream, one after the other. Aramis’ screams had turned into pathetic mewling cries as the beating went on. A glance between Aramis’ spread knees showed his balls were drawn up high and tight. Athos was glad. This needed to end soon. A few harsh blows to the tops of Aramis’ thighs was all it took to push him over. With a strangled scream, he thrashed weakly as he began to come.

As soon as Aramis started to come, Athos dropped the belt and took hold of his hip. He held him steady, easing him through the worst of it before moving up behind him. He unzipped his pants and pulled his own hard and leaking cock out. He moaned loudly as he slid inside his boy, Aramis’ body still spasming weakly around him. All of the fight had gone out of his boy. He simply knelt, exhausted, the gag keeping his head chained to the floor, his hands now resting lax on either side of his head.

Gripping his boy hard by the hips, Athos began to fuck him then. He could feel his own release approaching and wanted to come so he could see to his boy. It didn’t take long, not after everything. Aramis wasn’t the only one who enjoyed what they did together. He got just as much if not more enjoyment as his boy did. Snapping his hips forward again and again, Athos fucked his boy, taking what he wanted as his boy panted and mewled around the gag binding him.

“So fucking good,” Athos moaned, the words slipping out unbidden. “Such a good boy. My good boy. Always my good boy.”

Aramis heard Athos’ words and felt them flow through him like a wave. They were exactly what he needed to hear most, that he was Athos’, that he was still his boy and always would be. Those simple words of ownership, of reaffirmation, settled over those places inside of him that were still somewhat rough and eased their jagged edges.

Athos wished he had the patience to draw this out, but he simply didn’t. In truth, his boy wasn’t up to it anyway. Instead, Athos concentrated on the feel of his boy, the tight clench of his body and the residual tingling from the lube. A few sharp thrusts later and Athos cried out as he began to come, filling his boy as he ground against him and making Aramis whimper into the gag.

Finally spent, Athos slowly pulled out. He tucked himself away then moved up next to Aramis. He quickly unclipped the gag from the floor and wasn’t surprised when Aramis burrowed into his lap at once, winding himself around him as much as he could. Athos gave him a moment to get settled before reaching for the gag once more and carefully easing it off of him. 

He felt Aramis’ arms tighten around his middle as he set it aside and he ran his hand up and down his lover’s back. He could feel fine tremors running through him but he attributed those more to reaction than anything else. As Aramis held onto him, his head pillowed in his lap and his legs twined with his, he could tell he was saying something but he couldn’t make out what it was. Leaning closer, he tried to hear but he still couldn’t tell what he was saying.

He knew he could have gotten them up off the floor and onto the sofa but Aramis wasn’t ready for that yet and Athos didn’t want to force it. After a scene like that, Aramis needed closeness. He needed to wrap himself around him, touching as much of him as he could. He needed to hear and feel and smell his lover. When Aramis was ready to move he would signal it. Until then, Athos would stay right there on the floor with him. 

“Sweetheart? What it is?” Athos whispered as he continued to hold Aramis as best he could. 

“Thank you,” Aramis whispered a bit louder as he nuzzled into Athos’ lap. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

“Oh Sweetheart,” Athos replied, tightening his arms. “You don’t ever have to thank me for this. I love you, ‘Mis. I’ll always give you what you need.”

“Love you so much,” Aramis managed though it was hard to form coherent thoughts past ‘thank you’. “Been... been...”

“Shh,” Athos soothed. “It’s alright. Just rest.”

It took close to an hour for Aramis to finally come down enough to start unwinding from around Athos. Athos had reached over and grabbed the throw off the back of the sofa and draped it over him to keep him from getting too cold. 

“How are you feeling?” Athos asked softly when Aramis stretched beside him.

“Sore,” Aramis grinned. He took Athos’ hand and squeezed it letting him know that he was teasing. 

“Better?” Athos pushed. He could tell for himself that Aramis was but he wanted to hear him say it. His boy had been in a state when he had gotten home and he wasn’t quite sure what had set him off. 

“Much,” Aramis replied. “Thank you.”

“I told you, you don’t have to thank me for that. But can you tell me what brought all that on? I know you’ve been tense lately but I didn’t think it was this bad. Did I miss something?”

“No,” Aramis said at once. He started to push himself up then and hissed when his body complained at the too quick movement. 

“Easy,” Athos said. “Okay first things first. Let’s get you cleaned up and comfortable. Then we can talk.” 

Together they rose from the floor and Athos helped Aramis into the bathroom. He helped his boy bathe then slip into some loose sweats before changing as well and helping him back out to the sofa. 

Athos sat down first then pulled Aramis down between his legs so that he could lay back against him. Wrapping his arms around him, he simply sat holding him at first, letting them both settle once more. 

“Alright,” Athos finally said, “can you tell me what brought all this on today? Like I said, I knew you were stressed but I didn’t think it was this bad.”

“It wasn’t,” Aramis said. He felt himself flush in embarrassment as he remembered the temper tantrum he had thrown in the kitchen. He started to say something then he recalled Athos’ words and felt his stomach knot painfully.

“What is it?” Athos asked, sensing the change in him.

“I’m sorry about losing it like I did. I didn’t mean to act like that.”

“It’s okay. Obviously something was bothering you. Actually, something’s been bothering you for a while now. I can’t help you if I don’t know what the problem is, Sweetheart.”

Aramis nodded but didn’t reply as he stared into the unlit fireplace. He felt like a complete idiot for losing it like he had, and over cookies of all things. He knew that Athos wasn’t going to accept that as an answer, though, and he was right not to. The debacle in the kitchen was not the cause of his meltdown, it had simply been the catalyst. 

“Your new intern seems keen,” Aramis said out of nowhere. He felt Athos go still beneath him and couldn’t help but stiffen as well. He knew he was being an idiot. Athos regularly took on new interns, rotating them through the company and keeping the more promising ones. Stephen was no different, even if he did like to think so.

“Which one?” Athos asked, frowning a bit. He’d taken on two new interns this past month to help out over the holidays. They were always short-staffed with people taking time off to be with their families. It was a practice Athos actively encouraged and took on the interns to help ease the strain. 

“Stephen,” Aramis replied, trying and failing to keep the disdain from his tone.

Athos arched an eyebrow at Aramis’ reply. He had not thought the two men had come into contact all that much. Then again, nothing happened at the company that Aramis wasn’t aware of. It was just one of the reasons he was such a good PA and Athos’ right hand. But he didn’t need Aramis to tell him about Stephen’s rather overblown ego. Or his desire to cultivate a much closer relationship with him. It was for those very reasons that Athos had not planned to keep the young man on after the holidays. Now that he knew how upset Aramis was about him, Athos would be taking care of the matter today.

“Hmm. Yes,” Athos murmured. “He does think a lot of himself. Had I known he was upsetting you like this I would have let him go already.”

“Athos, no,” Aramis shook his head, embarrassed all over again by his actions. “You shouldn’t have to...”

“No,” Athos said softly, cutting Aramis off mid-sentence. “I’m not going to just stand by and do nothing when something clearly bothers you.”

“You need him,” Aramis tried to argue.

“I don’t,” Athos countered. “And even if I did, I would find someone else. I hadn’t planned on keeping him past the holidays anyway. I will simply be moving up my plans to terminate his contract.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure he has another contract in place. I won’t leave him without a job.”

“Thanks,” Aramis replied softly. 

“You didn’t really get this upset over some intern thinking he could fuck his way up the ladder, did you?”

“Not really,” Aramis answered. “But it didn’t help. It’s always stressful this time of year and then I had to listen to that little prick talk about using you like you were just another tool...”

“And then I went into the office and left you here,” Athos finished. “I really did only think it would take a couple of hours.”

“I know,” Aramis said truthfully. “I also know how things tend to snowball this time of year and I knew he was going to be there doing his best to hang all over you.”

“If it helps, I was holed up in my office the whole time. I think he tried to poke his head in once and I glared at him and sent him scurrying off.”

“Good,” Aramis chuckled. He could picture the scene perfectly and wished he had been there to see it first-hand.

“Now tell me what the deal was in the kitchen,” Athos said. “You’ve never tried to murder our bakeware before.”

“I was trying to make cookies,” Aramis grumbled. 

“I take it your attempts were less than successful?”

“You could say that,” Aramis said, his mouth drawn up in a line. “Fist I burned them. Then they were raw. Then I burned them again. How is it I can speak four languages but I can’t bake fucking cookies?”

“It’s harder than it looks,” Athos chuckled. “We can clean up the kitchen and try it again if you want. Maybe the two of us together will have better luck.”

“Alright,” Aramis grinned then sobered. “I, uh, I am sorry. I didn’t mean to be so disrespectful to you, especially in your home.”

“Oh,” Athos said as understanding dawned. “I wondered what I had done wrong. _Our home_ , Sweetheart. It’s our home.”

“Sorry,” Aramis whispered though he snuggled down into Athos’ arms a bit more at that. He didn’t mean to doubt Athos or his place but sometimes he needed the reassurance. Luckily for him, Athos never seemed to mind providing it.

“No, the fault was mine,” Athos told him. “I didn’t mean it to seem like that when I said it. This is your home as much as mine, Aramis. I love you. You’re stuck with me.”

“I love you, too. So much.”

End.


End file.
